Term 3 Week 3 Newsletter 2025

Important Dates

Character Virtue:  P A T I E N C E
What it looks like:  Patience is waiting calmly without getting frustrated when things take time.  It's about not complaining or rushing.
What it means:  Patience is like having a peaceful heart and being okay with waiting for good things to happen.  It's about not giving up when things are hard.
Why it is important:  Patience helps us handle challenges better.  It allows us to learn and grow, and it keeps us from making quick, hasty decisions that we might regret later.

From the Principal

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Week 3.

Thanks to Mr Keady, Mrs Toole, Miss Herbert and Mrs Winterton for taking our Year 6 students on their Canberra Excursion. Thanks to Mrs Sutciffe for taking our AFL team to Sydney last Wednesday. This week we have the Western Athletics Carnival, our NAIDOC liturgy on Thursday and our Soccer Gala Day on Friday. 

Congratulations to our Year 6 students who celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation on the weekend. The Sacrament of Confirmation enables a baptised person to confirm the promises made on their behalf at baptism. It is also a sign of full membership in the Catholic community. 

NAIDOC Day
Our school will celebrate NAIDOC Day this week on Thursday, 7th August. We warmly welcome our community to join us for a Liturgy to be held in our school hall at 10.30 am, followed by a morning tea outside our school Library. Children are encouraged to wear a touch of red, black, or yellow on the day. In the afternoon, classes will participate in a range of activities to promote the indigenous culture and celebrate this important day. 

Saint Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day - Friday
We will celebrate Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day with a liturgy next Monday.
Mary was born in Victoria to Scottish immigrants. She was the eldest of eight children and spent her early years working to support her family. At the age of 24, she dedicated her life to God and took on the name “Mary of the Cross”.
Along with Fr Julian Tenison Woods, Mary opened a school in a disused stable in Penola, South Australia. Her vision was to provide education for underprivileged children. Many other women came to join her there, and Mary and Julian founded Australia’s first religious order: the Sisters of St Joseph.
Mary and the Sisters were committed to serving the poor, to going where the need was, and living amongst those in need. This took Mary all over Australia to many rural areas.
Mary faced fierce opposition throughout her life, which at one point culminated in her being excommunicated. In the face of trial, Mary was a model of forgiveness, insisting no ill be spoken of those who wronged her, while also remaining resolute in her convictions.
Mary was remarkable as a strong female leader in 19th-century Australia. Education in this country is what it is today thanks to her dedication and determination.
https://www.marymackilloptoday.org.au/

Uniform Reminders Relating to Hair and Jewellery
Jewellery is not permitted except a signet ring, a watch, a crucifix on a fine chain, and one sleeper or plain stud earring in each ear lobe. 
Make-up or nail polish is not to be worn. 
Hair is to be of one natural colour, clean, tidy, neatly cut, out of the eyes and tied back below the collar (this applies to both boys and girls).
Ribbons, hair bands, and clips, if worn, must be maroon, black, pink, or made from the fabric of the school uniform.

Religious Education

Confirmation
Congratulations to those students in Year 6 who received the sacrament of Confirmation over the weekend with Fr Greg. We are extremely proud of you all as you make the next step on your faith journey. Confirmation continues this weekend, and we warmly welcome you to attend one of the weekend Masses to support our Year 6 students. A special thanks to Rosie Hosking, Miss Herbert, and Mrs Toole for all their work in preparing our students for this.

Vinnies PJ Day
St. Mary’s SRC have organised for our school to hold the annual PJ Day on Tuesday, 12th August. On this day, students are encouraged to wear Pyjamas (joggers or school shoes must be worn) to school and bring a gold coin donation to support the local St. Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal. 

St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop Feast Day
Our school will gather on Monday, to celebrate the feast day of St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Mary was an Australian nun who was declared a saint by the Catholic Church. She was the first Australian to be canonized. She is known for founding the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, a religious order dedicated to educating poor children and providing social services. Mary and her sisters hold an important role in the history of Catholic education, particularly around the regional parts of our Diocese. We thank Year 4 for preparing this Liturgy for us. 

2025 First Holy Communion
First Holy Communion preparation sessions commence this week. If your child is receiving the sacrament of First Holy Communion this year, they are required to attend one session per week in the lead-up. 
Session 2 - Tuesday, 5th August @ 6.15pm, Wednesday, 6th August @ 4.30pm, Sunday, 10th August @ 10am
Session 3 - Tuesday, 12th August @ 6.15pm, Wednesday, 13th August @ 4.30pm, Sunday, 17th August @ 10am
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Rosie Hosking (Sacramental Coordinator) or myself at;
Rosie- sacraments.dubbo@cdob.org.au
Tim- t.keady@bth.catholic.edu.au

ST. BRIGID'S PARISH - MASS TIMES: 
St Brigid's:  Saturday - 5pm, Sunday - 9am and Sunday - 5pm
St. Laurence's Church:  Sunday - 7.30am

Sport

Western Region Athletics Carnival
Tomorrow, our school athletics team will compete at the Western Region Athletics Carnival at Barden Park. Thanks to Mrs Sutcliffe, who has organised the carnival. Best of luck to all of our athletes.

Please Note:  The P&F will be running the canteen - CASH ONLY

Soccer Gala Day
This Friday, we’re taking ten teams to a Soccer Gala Day in Dubbo. We will send out information on Compass early this week. Thank you to the generous parents who have volunteered to help out with teams on the day.

BOOK WEEK

ST. MARY'S BOOK WEEK 2025

We are celebrating this year's Book Week on Monday, 18th August.

The children are to come to school dressed as a character from their favourite book or as something related to this year's theme - Book an Adventure. 
We also ask the children to bring in the book their character is based on, or a favourite book, to show their class as part of the day's activities.

The day will begin with a character parade for the whole school at 9 am.
 
Parents and friends are welcome to attend.

Awards

STUDENT OF THE WEEK:

HOUSE AWARDS:
Congratulations to the following students for gaining 10 points for
their Sports House for exemplary behaviour:

Attendance

Community News

BIRTHDAYS:
Celebrating their birthday this week are:
Bella, Kahlee, Pranav, Charlie, Maddix, Freya,
Jimmy and Lola.
We hope you enjoy your birthday!

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Canteen

MunchMonitor - We encourage all families to use the MunchMonitor online program for lunch orders. 

We Are Allergy Aware

Anaphylaxis is a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. We want to do our best to keep those at risk, as safe as possible. We have several children at our school who have allergies to peanuts and tree-nuts.
It is important for the safety of these children that we ask that you don't send any nuts or nut products to school.
This includes foods such as peanut butter, Nutella, hazelnut spreads, trail mix or muesli bars/biscuits that contain nuts.

Please help us maintain the health and well-being of all our students by considering this information when packing lunches for your child.

We appreciate your support.

The Clothing Pool

Canberra Excursion 2025

Students from our school have undertaken an education tour of the National Capital on the 30th, 31st of July and 1st of August. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.
The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the National Capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing
funding of $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs.
The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.
Last week our Year 6 students headed to Canberra as part of our annual History unit, ‘Historical sources present perspectives on the past’. During our time we were fortunate enough to visit such places as the TreeTops High Ropes Course, the Australian War Memorial, Australian Institute of Sport, Parliament House, the Australian Portrait Gallery, Questacon, The National Museum of Australia, Museum of Australian Democracy and The National Arboretum as well as other places around Canberra. Everyone had a fantastic time and are to be congratulated on their participation in all activities.   A special thank you to Mrs Winterton and Mr Wilson for giving up their time and coming along on the excursion with us.